'Might as well:' Elon finds formula to claim league tournament crown

Published: Monday, May 27, 2013 at 12:56 AM.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — By breakfast Sunday morning, Elon University baseball players greeted each other with “might as well.”

The refrain was repeated on the bus ride to Fluor Field for the Southern Conference Tournament championship game in the afternoon.

The Phoenix finished an almost unthinkable task given its start to the tournament, edging The Citadel 6-5 for its second Division I postseason league crown and first since 2008.

“No doubt, who would have thunk it?” Elon coach Mike Kennedy said. “We show up Wednesday and get beat like a drum and then we win five in a row. … We got energy and we got confidence. We didn’t let up.”

Third-seeded Elon is the second team in the tournament’s 30-year history to lose its tournament opener — a 10-1 clunker to Furman in this case — and end up as champion. The Phoenix (32-28) learns its NCAA regional designation this afternoon.

A five-game winning streak matches its longest of the season.

“We felt like we couldn’t get beat,” said Elon pitcher Kyle Webb. “It’s tough to stay positive after that (first game).”

GREENVILLE, S.C. — By breakfast Sunday morning, Elon University baseball players greeted each other with “might as well.”

The refrain was repeated on the bus ride to Fluor Field for the Southern Conference Tournament championship game in the afternoon.

The Phoenix finished an almost unthinkable task given its start to the tournament, edging The Citadel 6-5 for its second Division I postseason league crown and first since 2008.

“No doubt, who would have thunk it?” Elon coach Mike Kennedy said. “We show up Wednesday and get beat like a drum and then we win five in a row. … We got energy and we got confidence. We didn’t let up.”

Third-seeded Elon is the second team in the tournament’s 30-year history to lose its tournament opener — a 10-1 clunker to Furman in this case — and end up as champion. The Phoenix (32-28) learns its NCAA regional designation this afternoon.

A five-game winning streak matches its longest of the season.

“We felt like we couldn’t get beat,” said Elon pitcher Kyle Webb. “It’s tough to stay positive after that (first game).”

For a senior class that saw its win total decline each year, it was an incredible reward.

“Through the four years, we’ve done everything except win a conference tournament and we wanted to win this thing,” infielder Chris Bresnahan said. “We had enough pitching to do it.”

For a team that sometimes had trouble finding its way, its coach said it played its best baseball the past few days.

“I think that’s why it means so much,” Kennedy said. “It’s hard to win five in a row anytime, especially when you’re facing elimination and against teams that had rest.

“After that first game (Saturday), we’re sitting in the dugout. We’re tired. The guys are eating and it’s quiet. And (relief pitcher) Jordan Darnell says, ‘Hey, we might as well.’ ”

Thus, a motto was born. Following Sunday’s celebration, Darnell explained.

“After that first game (of this tournament), as seniors we all kind of didn’t want to go out like this,” he said. “Next thing you know, we’re right here. We had to stay an extra day, we might as well win it.”

The winning streak began Thursday afternoon at the same time that Elon officials back on campus were announcing it was leaving the conference in 13 months to join the Colonial Athletic Association.

Elon trailed in every game in the tournament, though Citadel’s 1-0 edge didn’t last long. While the Phoenix made a habit of comebacks, it looked like the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (35-25) might take a page from that script as it chipped away at a 6-1 deficit.

Even then, the Phoenix had learned to consider every detail in its climb through the tournament.

“We treated every game like it was our last,” said pitcher Spencer Medick. “We wanted to be here (in this final). We set small goals and we were fortunate to get everyone of them.”